Once the humble guardian of NATO's remote southeastern flank but now a newly confident power, Turkey has stepped up to help Russia and its former Communist allies rebuild a sense of common purpose among the splintering states and nations of the Black Sea.

A new regional group of nations was signed into life Thursday as old Cold War rivals and new ethnic enemies from 11 Black Sea countries vowed to settle their differences peacefully and seek ways to bring their economies and peoples closer together. "Despite all our many conflicts, we are sitting here at the same table. This is the beginning of peace," said Turkish Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel as the ink dried on the Istanbul Summit Declaration of Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

A new regional group of nations was signed into life Thursday as old Cold War rivals and new ethnic enemies from 11 Black Sea countries vowed to settle their differences peacefully and seek ways to bring their economies and peoples closer together. "Despite all our many conflicts, we are sitting here at the same table. This is the beginning of peace," said Turkish Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel as the ink dried on the Istanbul Summit Declaration of Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

Once the humble guardian of NATO's remote southeastern flank but now a newly confident power, Turkey has stepped up to help Russia and its former Communist allies rebuild a sense of common purpose among the splintering states and nations of the Black Sea.

It is an adventuresome, historic spring for Turkey. The prime minister, the national airline, diplomats, businessmen, Big Bird and the Cookie Monster have all been dispatched on voyages of exploration to uncharted lands of Central Asia. Turkey is shaking off decades of Cold War aloofness, emerging as a new regional power at a volatile and busy international crossroads.